Former Vice President Joe Biden on Friday told the Des Moines Register editorial board that he would not testify in a Senate impeachment trial against President Donald Trump.
"The reason I wouldn't is because it's all designed to deal with Trump doing what he's done his whole life, trying to take the focus off him. The issue is not what I did, not a single person, not one, not a single person, even that thug Guiliani and his (inaudible) compatriots, have said I did anything other than my job," Biden said. "This is all about a diversion."
On Saturday, the veep took to Twitter to "clarify" what he meant, saying there's no legal basis for Republicans to subpoena him.
"The subpoenas should go to witnesses with testimony to offer to Trump's shaking down the Ukraine government – they should go to the White House," Biden said.
I want to clarify something I said yesterday. In my 40 years in public life, I have always complied with a lawful order and in my eight years as VP, my office — unlike Donald Trump and Mike Pence — cooperated with legitimate congressional oversight requests.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) December 28, 2019
But I am just not going to pretend that there is any legal basis for Republican subpoenas for my testimony in the impeachment trial. That is the point I was making yesterday and I reiterate: this impeachment is about Trump’s conduct, not mine.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) December 28, 2019
The subpoenas should go to witnesses with testimony to offer to Trump’s shaking down the Ukraine government — they should go to the White House.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) December 28, 2019
Apparently Biden doesn't think he needs to explain why his son, Hunter, was being paid more than $50,000 a month to sit on the board of Burisma, a corrupt Ukrainian gas company, despite having no natural energy experience. The veep was handling international relations with Ukraine on behalf of the Obama administration at the time, meaning Burisma was likely paying for access to the United States' second in command.
But not only that, Joe Biden admitted to threatening to withhold $1 billion in loans to Ukraine unless the country's leaders fired their prosecutor general who happened to be investigating Burisma. That meant Hunter Biden was among those being investigated. And guess what happened? The Ukrainian Parliament ousted the prosecutor general. That is the quid pro quo – or "bribery" – in this entire saga.